Trey Benson began his college football career with the Oregon Ducks before transferring to Florida State in 2022. During his two seasons with the Seminoles, Benson rushed for 1,896 yards and 23 touchdowns on 310 carries (6.1 YPC). He earned second-team ALL-ACC honors during his sophomore and junior seasons.
Hidden Gem
At the NFL Scouting Combine, Trey Benson scored a 9.76 Relative Athletic Score (RAS) out of a possible 10.00, according to Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb).
A Relative Athletic Score (RAS) is a composite metric that combines up to 10 testing metrics into a single athletic score. The RAS score compares a player’s testing data to their position group.
Benson’s RAS ranked 47th out of the 1,904 running backs from 1987 to 2024. His 40-yard dash time of 4.39s was elite. To put it in perspective, here are some current NFL running backs with similar 40-yard dash times.
| Player | 40 YD Dash (s) | Height / Weight | Relative Athletic Score |
| Kenneth Walker | 4.38 | 5’9″ / 211 lbs | 9.24 |
| Breece Hall | 4.39 | 5’11” / 217 lbs | 9.96 |
| Jonathan Taylor | 4.39 | 5’10” / 226 lbs | 9.53 |
| Trey Benson | 4.39 | 6’0″ / 216 lbs | 9.76 |
Trey Benson is an explosive athlete and has the prototypical size of an NFL running back. With his dynamic speed, Benson can change the outcome of a game with one carry. Did Arizona Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort find a gem in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft?
Rookie Season
As the primary backup for James Conner, Benson rushed for 291 yards and one touchdown on 63 carries (4.6 YPC). Two hundred twenty-seven of those yards came after contact (78%).
Benson was starting to find his rhythm as a runner before suffering an ankle injury in Week 15 against the New England Patriots. He went on to miss the final three games of the 2024 season.
Future Outlook
The Arizona Cardinals ranked seventh in the National Football League with 2,451 rushing yards in 2024. James Conner led the group with a career-high 1,094 yards on 236 carries (4.6 YPA). Conner’s rushing yards accounted for 45% of the team’s total.
Don’t forget about Kyler Murray. The athletic quarterback rushed for 572 yards and five rushing touchdowns last season. Murray told PHNX Cardinals that he is “open to running more” in 2025.
With James Conner and Kyler Murray remaining vital components to the team’s rushing attack, carries will be tough to come by next season. However, Benson has turned some heads this offseason. He added seven pounds of muscle and is even more explosive.
Pro Bowl running back James Conner spoke to the media and had high praise for the second-year pro. “He (Benson) worked unbelievably in this off-season. He just showed up every single day.” Conner said. “He wants it bad because he knows what type of player he can be, and we all know that, and so he’s been working his butt off. It’s been awesome to see. He’s super, super dedicated.”
Trey aims to build on his strong offseason and take a leap in his second year. “This year, I’m looking forward to being a one-two punch,” Benson told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo. Head Coach Jonathan Gannon shares a similar vision. “If (Benson) takes the necessary jump from Year 1 to Year 2, I think we have two starting backs,” Gannon said at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine. “That’s how I view those guys. You see certain teams out there with two ‘1s,’ I would say, and I think we should have two ‘1s’ next year.”
James Conner, who turned 30 years old in May, had a career-high 283 total touches last season. If the veteran running back shows any signs of regression or the club wants to monitor his workload, Trey Benson will be ready for his opportunity.
“I feel like I’m going to get more opportunities, help James out a little more. I feel like we can have two RB1s on this team, and that’s my mindset this year, two RB1s.” Benson said on the final day of mandatory minicamp. “Be able to help James out because he was the workhorse for us last year; he set the tone for me, and he set the tone for the whole running back room. Being able to help him a lot more this year is the goal.”
– Follow Dan Loya on X (formerly Twitter) @DLoya_NFL
